Metro Cone (film)
Metro Cone is a 2005 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film produced by Gingo Animation for 20th Century Fox. The fourth feature film from Gingo Animation, as well as its first fully computer-animated film, it was directed by Samuel Merritt (in his directorial debut) and written by John Landis, David N. Weiss, and J. David Stem from a story by Geo G., Merritt, and Dan and Kevin Hageman, and stars the voices of Seann William Scott, Kristen Schaal, John Goodman, Mila Kunis, Zooey Deschanel, and Jim Carrey. The film tells the story of a creative teenage boy named Metro Cone, who must protect a group of imaginary friends he created from the new anti-imagination law formed by Professor Wizzletum, a mad scientist obsessed with eliminating them. Metro Cone premiered at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on November 8, 2005, and was released in the United States on November 23, 2005. As part of Gingo's new distribution deal via Gingo Entertainment, it was the studio's first film to be distributed by 20th Century Fox, since their split with Universal Studios. The film was a critical and commercial success, with many praising its animation, visuals, humor, characters, and the performances of Scott, Schaal, Goodman, and Carrey, and earned a total of $435 million worldwide against its $60 million budget. It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, and, through home video releases and television syndication, gathered a cult following. It launched an expanded franchise, with three sequels: Metro Cone 2 (2008), Metro Cone 3: The Mystery to New York (2011), and Metro Cone Forever (2015). Plot Coming soon! Voice cast *Seann William Scott as Metro Cone, a heroic, optimistic, imaginative teenager. *Kristen Schaal as Vera Marshall, a teenage girl who is Metro's love interest. *John Goodman as Bonk Bear, an anthropomorphic clumsy bear who is one of Metro's imaginary friends. *Mila Kunis as Lucy Cutie, one of Metro's imaginary friends. *Zooey Deschanel as Wiz Lizard, an anthropomorphic flying magical lizard who is one of Metro's imaginary friends. *Jim Carrey as Professor Wizzletum, an imaginary friend-hating mad scientist who plans to get rid of the imaginary friends Metro created. *Taraji P. Henson as Mindy Cone, Metro's mother. *Eric Idle as John Cone, Metro's father. *Brian McCann as Gus, one of Wizzletum's assistants. *Samuel Merritt as Gorilla *Rino Romano as Lloyd *Danny Mann as Hank *Kevin Michael Richardson as Buddy *Sandy Fox as Vivian *Geo G. as Melvin *Corey Burton and Paul Rugg as Mutants *Billy West as Timmy Additional voices *Kirk Baily *Ranjani Brow *Mitch Carter *David Cowgill *Holly Dorff *Elisa Gabrielli *Johnny Gidcomb *Jackie Gonneau *Nicholas Guest *Wendy Hoffmann *Emily Johnson *Scott Menville *George Schermer *Mandy Sekelsky *Paul Taylor *Hans Tester *Steven L. Wagner *Debi Mae West Production Development The idea for Metro Cone was conceived in 2000, when Geo G. and the rest of the Gingo Animation team were discussing for a new intellectual property, and development on the project began in 2001. In October 2001, it was revealed that visual effects company Blur Studio would produce the project. More coming soon! Casting Coming soon! Animation Coming soon! Soundtrack Coming soon! Release Metro Cone was originally going to be released on July 7, 2006 by Universal Pictures, but in December 2004, it was moved up a year earlier to November 23, 2005 when Universal/Gingo's BJ and Wally was pushed back from December 2005 to July 2006. However, following Gingo's split with Universal in February 2005, 20th Century Fox acquired the film's distribution rights the following month, as part of their new distribution deal with Gingo's parent company, Gingo Entertainment. Fox retained Universal's original release date of November 23, 2005. On November 8, 2005, the film premiered at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, with the cast and filmmakers as attendees. The theatrical release was accompanied by Blur Studio's 2004 Academy Award-nominated short film Gopher Broke. Marketing Coming soon! Home media Metro Cone was released on DVD on March 7, 2006 and on Blu-ray on March 22, 2011. In addition to Gopher Broke, the releases were accompanied by a short animated film titled Dial "M" for Metro. Reception Critical response The film has an approval rating of 92% at Rotten Tomatoes based on 149 reviews and an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "It may not be one of Gingo's best efforts, but Metro Cone has enjoyable characters, clever writing and stunning animation that would entertain both kids and adults." On Metacritic, it has a score of 78 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Box office Coming soon! Accolades Coming soon! Video game Sequels Transcripts Main To see the main transcript of the film, click here. Trailers To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here. Category:Films Category:2000s Category:2005 Category:Metro Cone Category:Gingo Animation animated films Category:20th Century Fox animated films Category:20th Century Fox films Category:Non-Universal films Category:PG-rated films Category:Animated films Category:Computer animated films Category:Gingo films Category:Fantasy films